Isa Farfan (Hyperallergic) writes about Roberto Lugo’s two-part public monument to Puerto Rican culture in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park. She says, “Hand-painted portraits of Bad Bunny, his parents, and other inspiring figures mix with sweet memories of boyhood summers in the artist’s latest work.” The sculptures will remain in the park through December 6, 2026.
Maribel Lugo has always believed in her son Roberto’s artistry, even though she knew that creative career paths didn’t always lead to what she described as “good money.” She moved from Puerto Rico to the United States when she was four, bouncing back and forth throughout her childhood and keeping tradition alive through food.
On Wednesday, May 20, her son Roberto Lugo, now a spoken-word poet and renowned potter, unveiled a two-part public monument to Puerto Rican culture in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park, Alfarero del Barrio (Village Potter).
Lugo’s colossal urn “Capicú de Cariño (I Heard It Both Ways)” features hand-painted portraits of his parents, Maribel and Gilberto Lugo, alongside Puerto Rican luminaries, including reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
In another section of the park, a 15-foot-tall orange fire hydrant, “Para Los Días Caliente (This Is For The Hot Ones ),” towers over passersby. The work pays homage to the hot summer days of his boyhood in Philadelphia, when he would release water from fire hydrants to cool down.
Both large-scale sculptures, commissioned by the nonprofit Madison Square Park Conservancy, are timed to the United States’s 250th birthday and will remain in the park through December 6.
″ I wanted to create an artwork around that idea, that you are the featured person in this pot that historically has been meant for the aristocracy and the wealthy,” Lugo told Hyperallergic during the unveiling on the sweltering late spring day. “So this pot is egalitarian in that way that I feel like it connects with or represents a wide variety of the immigrant and American experience.” [. . .]
For full article, see https://hyperallergic.com/roberto-lugos-colossal-ode-to-puerto-rico-rises-in-madison-square-park/
[Photo above by Isa Farfan/Hyperallergic: Roberto Lugo’s parents, Maribel and Gilberto Lugo, stand beneath their portraits at their son’s new public art exhibition Alfarero del Barrio (Village Potter) in Madison Square Park.]
Isa Farfan (Hyperallergic) writes about Roberto Lugo’s two-part public monument to Puerto Rican culture in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park. She says, “Hand-painted portraits of Bad Bunny, his parents, and other inspiring figures mix with sweet memories of boyhood summers in the artist’s latest work.” The sculptures will remain in the park through December 6, 2026.
